1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to systems and methods for optimizing the aimpoint for a missile and, more particularly, to systems and methods that provide automated aimpoint update optimization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, some Man-In-The-Loop (MITL) missiles and associated aircraft launch controls allow the pilot to re-designate the aimpoint of the in-flight missile's target imaging seeker. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system 1 that permits the pilot to re-designate the aimpoint.
The in-flight seeker image from the missile in flight 2 is linked back to the launching aircraft via a data link pod 4. The data link pod 4 is linked to the aircraft mission planning command processor 6 with a suitable data bus (e.g. 1553 data bus). The data link pod 4 sends annotated seeker image video to the command processor 6. The command processor 6 sends the annotated video to the aircraft display 8 where the annotated seeker image is displayed on the display 8 with the aimpoint shown at the center of the display 8. The pilot can improve or change the aimpoint by commanding an aimpoint update by depressing and holding a switch on the stick control 10. The data link pod 4 relays this command to the in-flight missile 2 and the missile 2 notes the video frame that the pilot used to update the aimpoint.
Using control stick 10, the pilot can position a cursor overlaid on the seeker image on the cockpit display to a more desirable target location by moving the control stick 10. With the cursor positioned, the pilot releases the switch which immediately causes the position of the cursor on the image to be sent to the in-flight missile as the new commanded aimpoint. The missile seeker is aimed at the new aimpoint and the video resumes, such that the pilot can verify the aimpoint update. This process can be repeated until the missile 2 hits the target. This process takes time and the positioning is coarse and usually requires repetition, and the target impact point is not optimized.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automated system and method for providing an optimized aimpoint.